Automatic rainwater deflector



Feb. 3. 1925.

*Filed Sept. 17, 1923 Patented Feb. 3, 1925.'

UNITED STATES FREDERICK MOENCI-I, F WINNEBAGO, MINNESOTA.

`UMID1FIER FOB CARB'UBETORS.

Apploationiled September 17,1923. Serial No. 663,270.

To all wlwm it may concer/n.'

Be it known that I, FREDERICK MoENoH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Winnebago, in the county of Faribault l and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Humidier for Carburetors, of which the following is a. full, clear, and exact dei scription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same.

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and more particularly to means for humidifying or moistening the air which is mixed with the gasoline to provide the fuel to be fed to the cylinders of the engine.

Divers means heretofore have been devised for moistening this gaseous mixture, some of which have more or lessv accomplished the funtion for which they were designed, and in many instances a perceptible increase in the efficiency of the motor has been noted. In most instances, however, it has been the practice to withdraw steam or hot moist air from the radiator or some similar place and discharge the same into the gaseous mixture already formed as it .passes vfrom the carburetor to the engine cylinders, usually by providing an aperture in the engine intake manifold and connecting the steam feed pipe thereto. It is obvious that any foreign matter that might be in the water or radiator is very liable to and often does clog this feed pipe, and these substances also may be conveyed to the engine cylinders from which it could not be easily removed or dislodged and would in time damage the cylinders or pistons, or both. p

In designing my .device I have made provision for preventing foreign matter entering the fuelsystem and have installed the structure in such manner that the air being fed to the carburetor is humidified before it is mixed with the vaporized gasoline vin the carburetor. I also feed the moisture, usually water,fto the point of discharge in the air intake pipe by capillarity and lead the water b a suitable wick from the reservoir an pass the wick through said pipe so that the air drawn through the latter will take up the moisture as it rushes ast the wet wick and thus become humidi ed.

In this manner the Aforeign particles that may be in the ,water will not be dislodged into the air pipe as they cannot be actuated or elevated by capillarity, and in order to prevent lint or pieces of the wick being thrown off I protectthe latter with a fine mesh wire. screen or the like. If desired,

a suitable anti-carbon solution may be mixed with thewater so that small quantities of the same is being constantly fed to the cylinders during the'operation of the carburetor.

The divers objects of my invention reside in providing a humidifier that is extremely simple in construction so that it will be inexpensive to fabricate and cantherefore be retailed for amoderate price; that is a unitary structure and may be readily installed by unsklled persons without the use of special tools; that is dependable and eficient in operation; and which has no moving parts to get out of order.

I prefer to carry out my invention and accomplish the foregoing and other objects by means of the structure hereinafter fully described and as more particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings that form a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an internal combustion engine of a well-known type showing the application of my humidifier thereto.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of my humidifier drawn full-size and showing the manner of attaching the same to the air intake pipe that leads to the carburetor.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, that illustrate a typical or preferred embodiment of my invention, I have designated similar parts bythe same reference characters wherever said parts occur throughout the several views. v

Figure 1 illustrates schematically a side elevation of a' typical internal combustion engine, the engine block or casing being identified by the numeral 5, the exhaust manifold by the numeral 6, the carburetor by the numeral 7 and the intake or feed manifold by the numeral 8, the latter leadis heated beforeit passes from pipe 10 into the carburetor. e Y

My humidifier 4 comprises a suitably sha ed reservoir 13 elongated vertically and v pre erably of rectangular shape except that one of its `vertical walls may be formed concave asshown vat 14 in the drawings so that itwill conform to the contourof the air intake pipe 10 to which'it is secured and with i l which it preferably contacts.` The'top wall of the reservoir is provided with an aperture and feedspout 15 that is threaded to receive a removable closure cap 16. @When the reservoir is positioned',againsttheA pipe 10 as illustrated it is held in place by a clamping band or strap 17 that surrounds `the same about midway its hei ht and partially encircles the pipelO. Sgaid band or strap 17 has laterally ybent ends or ears 18 that are apertured to receive the shank of a bolt 19 which is held in place by a nut 2O so that the Vlateral ends orv ears 18 may be drawn towards each other to firmly clamp the reservoir 413 to the pipe 10. Y c

The wall 14 next the pipe `1'() is provided with a hole 21 through which a wick 22 is passed, said wick being of anysuitable material that will readily lend itself to feed the fluid inthe reservoir by capillarity and it is long enough to extend to the bottom of the reservoir at its inner end and across the pi e 10 at its opposite or outer end. Preferab y alining apertures 23 and 24 are made in the pipe 10 diametrically opposite eachother,

the aperture 23 registering with/the hole 21 in the. reservoir and the wick 22 passes through aperture 23 and then across .the inlteriorof thepipe to the opposite aperture 24 where its end is secured in any suitable manner. .For the purpose of` slightly compacting the wick whereit is positioned in the kpipe 10, I surround the same with a suitable wire gauze or wire mesh 25, or other reticulated element, which prevents pieces of'lint or portions of the wick being drawn oi intothe pipe 10 by the air which rushes past the same. o

Thus. it will bev seen that lwhen water or other liquid is placed in the reservoir the capillarity of thewick'carries the saine'v into the pipe 10 across the path of the air being fed to the carburetor and thew airtakes'up the moisture and carries it into the carburetor where the humidified air is mixed with the vaporized gasoline and creates a more efficient mixture of fuel for the engine. It will be obvious, however, that divers changes or modifications of the structure I have herein shown and described may be made without departing from the principle of my invention. I therefore desire it understood that all such changes vor modifications are fully contemplated as coming within the sco of the appended claims.

I hat I claim as new isz- 1. A humidifier for carburetors comprising an apertured air intake ipe for the carburetor, an apertured liqui containin vreservoir adjacent said ipe, and a wic one end thereof immerse in the liquid in said reservoir and the opposite end passes transversely throu h said pipe.4

2. The com ination with a carburetor and air intake pipe therefor, said pipe having an ape'rture,`o`` a fluid container contiguous said pipe having an aperture adjacent the a ture in said pipe, and a wick immerse in the Huid in said reservoir and extending therefrom through the apertures in said container and pipe and across said pipe whereby the moisture therefrom humidifes the air passing through the latter.

3. A humidifier for carburetors compris ing an air intake pi ,a liquid reservoir having a concave wa fitting against said pipe, said wall and said pipe respectively provided with registering apertures, and a wick in saidl reservoir a portion of which il passed throu h said apertures and extends transversely t rough said pipe.

4. A humidifier for carburetors com rising an air intake i ez a liquid reservoir avin a concave waliiitting against said pipe, sai wall and said pipe respectively provided with registering apertures a wick in said reservoir a portion of which passes throu h said apertures and extends transverse through said pipe, and a reticulated elevment within said pipe and surrounding said wick whereb lto prevent solid matter from said wick an reservoir passing through said pipe.

5. A humidifier for carburetors comprising a reservoir havingan apertured wall, and a wick immersed in the li uid contained in said reservoir and extende out throu h the apertured wall, said extended end 0I said wick passing through the air intake pipe of the carburetor. 6. A humidifier for carburetors com rising a reservoir havin an apertured wa l, a wick immersed in the Iiquid in said reservoir and extended out through the apertured wall, and a reticulated element surroundin the outerr portion of said wick the said element and the portion of the wick surrounded thereby being extended through the air-intake'pipe of the carburetor.

7. A humidifier for carburetors compris- Signed at Brownsdale, county of Mower ing a reservoir having an apertured wall, and State of Minnesota, `this 10th day of a wick surrounded by a woven wire fabric, August, 1923.

thereby compating the outer portion "there- FREDERICK MOENCH. 5 of, immersed in the liquid in said reservoir Witnesses:

and .extended out through the apertured H. J. GRANT,

Wall. J. E. RORMAN. 

